Fredericksburg Historic District

An association of German noblemen, the Adelsverein organized in 1842 at Biebrich on the Rhine, to encourage and finance immigration into the Republic of Texas. During its five years of existence, the Verein brought 7,380 German immigrants to the new state. Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach (simplified to John O. Meusebach after he became a Texas citizen in 1845) succeeded Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels as Commissioner-General of the Adelsverein in 1844. The Verein had purchased land in the Fisher-Miller Grant, unsettled Indian country in the hills of central Texas between the Llano and Colorado rivers, by means of an indenture with Meusebach for $5,000. Henry Francis Fisher was a German who had become interested in the exploration and colonization of the area and in 1843 had associated himself with the Adelsverein while in Germany.

The initial number of people arriving from Germany in 1845-46 was so large that Prince Carl had found that it would be suicidal to take settlers immediately onto this land. He, therefore, purchased a league of land on the Comal River and established the settlement of New Braunfels in 1845. Meusebach surveyed the area between New Braunfels and the Fisher-Miller Grant and in 1845 purchased 10,000 acres near the Pedernales River for a second settlement on the route to the grant. In May 1846, the first emigrant train of twenty wagons and two-wheeled Mexican carts arrived at the site of Fredericksburg after a sixteen-day journey from New Braunfels, and during the summer several other large emigrant trains arrived. The town was named for Prince Frederick of Prussia, one of the members of the Adelsverein, who never journeyed to his namesake.

Relations with the Comanches were generally friendly although worrisome. In 1847 Meusebach formed an expedition to deal with the chiefs of the Commanches occupying the area of the Fisher-Miller Grant and made a successful treaty with the Indians allowing Meusebach's settlers to go unharmed into Indian territory and the Indians to go to the white settlements, promising mutual reports on all wrong-doings, and provided for the survey of lands in the San Saba area with a payment of at least $1,000 to the Indians. Fredericksburg merchants, by a system of barter, were able to exchange their goods for skins and furs brought to Fredericksburg by the Indians.

Although the first buildings were of logs and hides, the settlers in Fredericksburg soon built sturdy and permanent structures of the local stone and timber. Most of the emigrants had come through Indianola directly from Germany and thus the town inevitably demonstrated a German character. In 1846 the Verein met its obligation to erect a church for all denominations in Fredericksburg. This was an octagonal Vereins-Kirche, nicknamed the Kaffeemuehle (coffee mill). Although destroyed in 1896, the 1930 well-reconstructed Vereins-Kirche is a dominant symbol of Fredericksburg.

By 1847 there were fifteen stores and the Nimitz Hotel, which also served as a social center for the community. (The community plans a reconstruction of the original building). Fredericksburg was named the county seat when Gillespie County was created in February 1848. There was a Morman settlement named Zodiac about four miles southeast of Fredericksburg. In 1848 the United States established Fort Martin Scott near the town. In 1849 one of four main roads opened by the U.S. government passed through Fredericksburg. This was the "Upper" El Paso Road or "Emigrant" Road and Fredericksburg was the last town before El Paso where supplies could be purchased by those heading to California for gold.

The census of 1850 listed 1,235 persons in the county -- 913 of these foreigners and only 5 Negro slaves. In these first years, Fredericksburg was struck twice by disease cholera and another unspecified communicable disease and there were an estimated 850 deaths. The population of the town in 1850 was only 754, but by 1860 the population had increased to 2703, 75% of which was German. The present population of Fredericksburg is a little over 5,000 (1970).

German is still spoken, along with English, in Fredericksburg and the German cooking of the area is an attraction to tourists. Fall and winter wild game hunting, the Hill Country scenery nearby dude ranches, and especially the German quality of the town itself draw many visitors to the city.